The present invention generally relates to gas monitoring system and, more particularly, to systems and methods for gas monitoring.
Millions of tons of garbage are deposited into landfills each year. As the garbage decomposes, it produces a number of harmful gases. Landfill gas is composed of approximately equal parts (fifty percent (50%)) of methane and carbon dioxide, both of which are greenhouse gases. Methane has a malicious environmental impact nearly twenty (20) times greater than that of carbon dioxide over a period of 100 (one hundred) years. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, landfills contributed approximately eighteen percent (18%) to overall methane emissions in the U.S. in 2012.
To minimize the harmful effects of the landfill gas, landfills extract the gas and then burn or neutralize it before the gas can escape into the atmosphere. Landfills utilize hundreds of gas extraction wells to perform this function. In operation, the well system creates a negative pressure in the decomposing trash causing the gas to evacuate from the landfill. The gas from multiple wells is then collected using a main gas line and transported to a flare where it will be burned off or to an energy facility where it will be used to generate a form of renewable energy.
In some situations, such as when oxygen from ambient air mixes into the landfill gas at the landfill area, the landfill gas's energy effectiveness is diminished. In these situations, it is more effective to regulate the amount of gas evacuating from the landfill area until the landfill gas composition becomes more favorable. To regulate gas evacuation, gas wells are fitted with valves. The valves can be positioned in varying configurations to regulate an amount of landfill gas evacuating to the main gas line. Due to frequent variations in the composition of the landfill gas, the gas wells are tuned fastidiously and frequently to ensure proper well field operation. Currently, a technician physically travels to each gas well and measures the landfill gas. The technician then regulates the amount of gas evacuating from the gas well based on the landfill gas measurements. This process is costly and time consuming, because a technician must travel to each of the hundreds of wells. Also, because the tuning occurs infrequently, gas extraction is less effective.
Additionally, in some situations, gas wells may unexpectedly break or crack, allowing harmful landfill gas to leak into the environment. Currently, a technician can only detect the gas leak when the technician is in proximity to the gas well. Because the technician may visit the gas well infrequently, a substantial amount of harmful landfill gas may leak into the environment before detection occurs, causing environmental concerns and producing unpleasant odors for local residents.